JAKARTA - Indonesian Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto is predicted to secure more than 50 per cent of votes needed to win the country's presidential election in one round, a new opinion survey showed on Feb 10, the last day of campaigning.

Mr Prabowo is projected to gain 51.9 per cent votes, based on a survey of 1,220 respondents by Lembaga Survei Indonesia (LSI), conducted between Jan 29 and Feb 5.

Respondents gave 23.3 per cent of their support for former Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan and 20.3 per cent for Mr Ganjar Pranowo, former leader of Central Java province, while 4.4 per cent were undecided.

Indonesia's most-watched surveys have consistently put Mr Prabowo well ahead of his competitors.

On Feb 9, pollster Indikator Politik projected Mr Prabowo to pip the 50 per cent threshold needed to win in a single round.

LSI executive director Djayadi Hanan said the survey has a 95 per cent confidence interval and 2.9 per cent margin of error.

That suggests a chance the vote would go to a second round and that the numbers were too close to project who the runner-up might be.

A run-off between two candidates with the most votes will be held in June if no candidate gets more than 50 per cent of votes.

Mr Prabowo's popularity has soared since the former special forces commander chose the son of President Joko Widodo, Mr Gibran Rakabuming Raka, as his running mate in October, signalling to voters that the popular, outgoing leader would support Mr Prabowo's ticket, Mr Hanan said.

Jokowi, as the President is popularly known, has been accused of interference and bias over his implicit support for Mr Prabowo, which his allies have denied.

Mr Widodo has not explicitly endorsed any of the three candidates and has said he will not campaign for any candidate.

Mr Gibran is Mr Prabowo's running mate, owing to a last-minute decision by a court headed by Jokowi's brother-in-law to change eligibility rules, and the President has made several public appearances with the front runner. REUTERS